Eurozone retail sales increased in May after falling a month ago but the pace of growth was weaker than forecast, official data showed on Friday.
Retail sales edged up 0.1 percent on a monthly basis in May following a 0.2 percent drop in April, Eurostat said. Sales were expected to climb 0.2 percent.
Sales of food, drinks and tobacco posted a monthly increase of 0.7 percent, while non-food product sales dropped 0.2 percent. Automotive fuel in specialized stores gained 0.4 percent in May.
On a yearly basis, retail sales growth halved to 0.3 percent from 0.6 percent in April. Nonetheless, this was better than economists\' forecast of 0.1 percent gain.
Looking ahead, overall household consumption is likely to rise over the remainder of the year, Capital Economics\' economist Lily Millard said.
Although the 0.1 percent increase in May does not sound like much, evidence is mounting that the bottom in retail trade is behind us, ING economist Bert Colijn said.
With real wages improving, the second half of 2024 should see a continuation of the cautious upward trend, the economist added.
Data showed that retail sales in the EU27 gained 0.1 percent on month in May and 0.6 percent from the same period last year.